ABOUT CLEAR YOUR GEAR

The Clear Your Gear Project was introduced in Canada by Judy Robertson of Wildlife Haven. It was the result of a professional development trip to visit the Center for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife in Sanibel Island, Florida. The visit was to seek guidance in anticipation of the future Wildlife Haven facility being constructed in Ile Des Chênes, Manitoba. In 2016, with seed funding from TransCanada, prototype receptacles were manufactured and a working group established with Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre, TransCanada, Public Services and Procurement Canada, and Province of Manitoba.

Clear Your Gear was originally founded as a collaborative effort among Sanibel-Captiva conservation organizations to reduce the amount of monofilament line and fishing gear left in our environment, which is often detrimental to wildlife.

The effort was established in 2014 by seven Sanibel-Captiva conservation organizations in response to the observation of ongoing environmental problems and an increase in wildlife injuries caused by monofilament line and other fishing gear. Currently, participants include; the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW), Sanibel Sea School, J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge, the "Ding" Darling Wildlife Society, the "Ding" Darling Monofilament Busters, Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF), and the City of Sanibel Natural Resources Department.